Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.4 - Chapter 3

Archducal Family Meeting

At third bell the next day, we archduke candidates left the northern building with all our guard knights, plus one scholar and attendant each. The situation was definitely being treated with more caution than was normal; instead of our usual meeting room, we were gathering in the one closest of all to the northern building. Sylvester, Florencia, Bonifatius, Wilfried, Charlotte, and I all went inside. Melchior and his retainers now took the spot that had once belonged to Ferdinand.

Thus began our meeting.

“There’s a lot to report this time,” Sylvester said. “First, Florencia’s pregnancy. We expect her to give birth either around the end of summer or the start of autumn. I want to distribute our current workload with her inevitable ill-health in mind.”

His announcement caused a stir. This was going to complicate both the plan for him to take a second wife and administration as a whole. But while everyone was exchanging looks of concern, I didn’t even blink. I already knew about Florencia’s pregnancy, so I took the opportunity to extend words of celebration.

“Congratulations,” I said to her. “I look forward to autumn.”

“I thank you ever so much, Rozemyne,” she replied, her expression softening into a smile.

Melchior beamed and spoke up as well. “Congratulations, Mother. This means I’m getting a little brother or sister, right?”

“Yup,” Sylvester replied on her behalf, then gazed across all of the gathered retainers. “But keep it a secret for now. Alright?”

Charlotte had been looking down at her feet, her expression stiff, but she finally looked up again in an apparent show of resolve. “We would not wish to put Mother in danger,” she said. “We will keep this a secret, and I will provide all the support I can.”

“I appreciate that. Now, moving on... I want to focus next on the purge carried out over the winter. We all understand that getting Ehrenfest back on its feet is our highest priority, yeah?”

And so, the reports began. The purge had started earlier than planned after Matthias and the others gave us an urgent update, and those who were found to have given their names to Georgine were targeted first. The most notable raid was on Giebe Gerlach’s estate; many of the people there had committed suicide, and only a few of them had been registered as Ehrenfest nobles.

“Father, I don’t understand,” Wilfried said. “Does that mean there was a large group of people from outside Ehrenfest in Giebe Gerlach’s estate?”

“You know how your mana was registered to a medal when you were baptized, right? The mana from those medals can be compared to the mana from a noble’s corpse to confirm their background. In this case... there were a number of corpses that we couldn’t identify.”

His phrasing sent a shudder down my spine, but I already had an idea of who those corpses might have once been. “Perhaps they were Devouring soldiers. They were used when I was ambushed and Charlotte kidnapped, correct?”

There had also been the time when, after visiting Gerlach during my first Spring Prayer as a shrine maiden, Tuuli and I were almost kidnapped in the lower city. And the time when the gray priests were abducted.

“Right,” Sylvester said. “The soldiers who exploded when attacking Charlotte’s baptism ceremony were also unidentifiable. We expect these to be the same.”

“Erm, did Giebe Gerlach explode too?” I asked, looking at Bonifatius, who had charged into his winter estate. “Somehow, I find that hard to believe.”

Bonifatius frowned. “The situation led me to conclude that he did, but I did not see it with my own eyes. The thing is... I wanted to charge in and grab him with my schtappe, but I was told that would be too aggressive. And, of course, the butler at the door tried to keep us from going in at all. That gave the giebe all the time he needed. By the time we reached the room where he was holding his meeting, it was all up in flames. There was nothing left inside but burning flesh.”

Though his explanation was quite bare, the state of the room sounded so nightmarish that I didn’t even want to imagine it. Part of me had wanted to cover my ears when he started telling us how the butler had also exploded the moment Bonifatius charged through the doorway... but I’d ended up listening anyway, rubbing my goose-bump-covered arms while trying to fend off the gory visuals.

“We compared our medals with whatever limbs still remained, but several of them couldn’t be identified. We found a left hand with Giebe Gerlach’s ring and crest, and that did respond to a medal... but I don’t buy that it was really him. There has to be more to it. There was far too little left behind...”

Bonifatius’s warrior instincts meant he was skeptical—but after seeing the scene with his own eyes, he still wasn’t confident that Giebe Gerlach was dead.

“Is it possible that he just cut off his hand and ran away?” Wilfried asked.

Bonifatius crossed his arms and grunted. “I could tell from the smell of the blood and the warmth of the corpses that I got in there right after he exploded. The estate was surrounded by knights, who didn’t see any fleeing highbeasts, and escaping through the sewers with its mana-eaters would be next to impossible for a noble. We also had commoner soldiers watching all other exits, and we received no reports of any of them getting hurt or acting suspiciously.”

Sylvester nodded. “I raised the city’s barrier to its maximum strength so that no nobles would be able to escape, assigned knights to even the northern gate, and told the commoner guards not to let a single carriage or wagon through. The reports say that no highbeasts or carriages left Ehrenfest that day.”

But even with that much evidence, Bonifatius hadn’t been able to accept that Giebe Gerlach was dead.

“Bonifatius was still doubtful, so we took the medals of all those Matthias confirmed were name-sworn to Georgine and carried out formal executions.”

“You mean... the God of Darkness method...?” I asked timidly, recalling the executions in Hasse. It was one of the spells I had learned when Ferdinand was helping me cram for the archduke candidate course.

Despite my vague description—there were people here who weren’t archduke candidates, so I’d needed to be careful—Sylvester seemed to understand. He nodded, his expression stern.

“But I thought that spell wouldn’t work on those not in the aub’s realm of control...”

“Rozemyne, how could someone escape Ehrenfest if not by highbeast or a carriage?”

“U-Um...” I paused to consider the abrupt question. “A teleportation circle, maybe?”

“Giebe Gerlach wouldn’t have been able to use one,” Sylvester answered, exasperated. “Magic circles that can teleport people require the aub’s authority.” I’d also heard as much from Ferdinand when he was teaching me about magic circles. Human teleportation was so consequential that only aubs could make and operate the means to it.

“Anyway...” he said, moving the conversation along. “We used the medals that matched corpses found on the estate to carry out the executions. Giebe Gerlach, real name Grausam, is dead—I want us to move forward on that basis. Our problem right now is figuring out whether other nobles are name-sworn. The process tends to be carried out in secret, and while the names that Matthias gave us seem to have been accurate, even their memories were distorted from trug. Continuing our investigation hasn’t been easy.”

As things stood, they had no choice but to make guesses based on the criminals’ associations. It was a precarious situation; they needed to be very careful not to execute any innocents.

“Ah, that reminds me,” Sylvester said. “Rozemyne, Wilfried, Charlotte—as part of their investigation, the Knight’s Order will need to borrow those who gave their names to you.”

As it turned out, they specifically wanted children of the giebes who had sworn themselves to Georgine. Giebes Gerlach, Wiltord, and Bessel were given special mention.

Sylvester continued, “After the purge, the Order began inspecting the giebes’ summer estates, but such mansions are teeming with doors that only open for registered family members. These hidden rooms and such will become completely inaccessible once new giebes are assigned, so we want to investigate them before then.”

Reregistering my mana with the hidden room in the orphanage director’s chambers would cause my old room to be lost forevermore. In the same vein, if the giebes were replaced and the registrations redone, several places in their estates would become inaccessible.

“I understand why it’s urgent for the estates to be investigated,” I said, then shot Karstedt a very deliberate look. “I will instruct Matthias, Laurenz, and Muriella to cooperate with the Knight’s Order, so please treat them well. They are my retainers now.”

He nodded with a reliable smile. “I will make sure the knights are well aware. Of course, we will treat those serving Lord Wilfried and Lady Charlotte with just as much consideration.” Then, his features began to harden, and a stern light arose in his light-blue eyes. “But in return we ask you, their lord and ladies, to stress that they are not to hide the crimes of their families.”

“Understood,” I replied, aware that they would need to cooperate if they wanted to survive. Wilfried and Charlotte nodded as well.

“Moving on,” Sylvester said. “As an adult myself, it pains me to admit this, but...” He trailed off, then very wearily tapped a stack of boards. “Ehrenfest has spent such a long time at the bottom of the rankings that not many of us know how to interact with top-ranking duchies. You know that, yeah? Well, we’re now so high up that we need to start acting like a top-ranking duchy ourselves.”

Again, we nodded. We had been made well aware of all this during our time at the Royal Academy.

“However,” he continued, “the purge has left Ehrenfest with even fewer nobles, and the rest are now plotting to secure the positions left by those who were imprisoned. We need to prioritize getting our internals in order over changing how we deal with other duchies.”

As he said, the execution of several giebes in such quick succession meant the remaining nobles were now jostling for their titles. It was hardly a good time to be focused elsewhere.

“We know how hard you kids are working. Even among the chaos of the purge, the three of you managed to unify the dorm and raise our grades and rank even higher than before. However, pathetically enough, we adults can’t keep up with you. That’s why we all want you to hold our current position in the Royal Academy—or even knock us down to tenth.”

My jaw dropped in sheer disbelief. I’d assumed that the adults would do their best to match our new ranking in Yurgenschmidt, but here they were, even humoring the idea of climbing back down a little.

“Is that really what you all want...?” I asked. During our time at the Royal Academy, we had divided ourselves into teams and all worked so hard to improve our duchy’s position. I could still picture the students’ proud smiles after their professors had praised their high grades. And what about our retainers? They had all run themselves ragged, using trial and error to figure out how to properly manage Ehrenfest’s new place among the top-ranking duchies. How could I ask them to cast aside all of their hard work?

“Rozemyne,” Karstedt said from where he was standing behind Sylvester, looking noticeably bitter. “This is the will of your support base—of the Leisegangs.”

“The Leisegangs...?”

“Yes. The purge was carried out early, and almost all of our duchy’s most powerful Ahrensbach-associated nobles were removed from their posts or eliminated. Satisfied that his lifetime rivals had at last met a grisly end, Giebe Leisegang Emeritus climbed the towering stairway to the distant heights.”

My eyes widened. “Great-Grandfather has gone to the distant heights?”

“He was finally at peace, confident in his belief that you were sent from the gods to aid Leisegang. His last request was for you to become aub after his passing.”

I thought back to my last meeting with Giebe Leisegang Emeritus, who had come across as a ball of extreme hatred and resentment toward Ahrensbach and Veronica. My assumption had been that he’d calmed down after speaking with Wilfried and making that promise, but apparently not. It was pretty disturbing to hear that he’d died of pure glee over the purge, which he’d said was thanks to me, and that even in his dying breath he’d asked for me to rule Ehrenfest.

“Um, Father... what does his passing have to do with our duchy’s ranking?” Wilfried asked, confused.

Florencia cast her eyes down a little. “His climb to the distant heights means that we no longer have to oppose the former Veronica faction. Our need to climb the ranks to defeat Ahrensbach has disappeared. From this point forward, we will need to devote ourselves to sorting out our internal matters—and, given the pressure that Ehrenfest is already under, the Leisegangs believe that nobody will rejoice over our rank rising even further.”

I’d already known that the adults were struggling to keep up, but it was a surprise to hear them say that nobody would appreciate our progress.

Do you mean to say we shouldn’t have worked together at the Royal Academy to boost our ranking?

My efforts to improve Ehrenfest’s position hadn’t been for the sake of the Leisegangs; it was just a good way to unify the dormitory and make sure that Ferdinand wasn’t looked down upon in Ahrensbach. But after asking me to help our duchy climb the rankings, Sylvester was telling me to drop it back down to tenth. How was I even supposed to respond to that?

You said that because Ferdinand is in Ahrensbach, serving as a tutor for Lady Letizia, Ehrenfest needs to work hard too. Didn’t you?

“This may sound a bit extreme,” Sylvester said to me, “but you’re the only one who’s actively interacting with top-ranking duchies and forming connections with the royal family. The nobles believe that, if you tone things down, our rank will stop going up. In other words, you stood out too much. You’re continually coming first-in-class and getting closer with royalty. If you do any more, we’re going to face unnecessary conflict over who should become the next aub. We want you to act very carefully from now on.”

He was basically saying that it was better for me not to work hard. Was that why Ferdinand hadn’t praised me this year? Because my achievements had caused Ehrenfest more trouble than anything? The moment that occurred to me, my excitement about having come first-in-class and the celebration I’d seen from atop the stage started to fade away. The world around me was losing its color.

“The giebes who have spoken with you know that you don’t want to become the aub,” Sylvester said, “but everyone else seems to think that you do. You have no choice but to prove them wrong.”

So... to prevent any weird disputes over who should be the next aub, I need to keep myself out of the spotlight? Would it be better if I weren’t here at all?

The pride I took in my duties, my desire to work hard... It felt like these integral parts of me were shriveling up and dying. I wanted to lock myself away in my library so that people would stop complaining about everything I did.

“Well... Good,” I said with a smile. “My absence when the factions are shifting and rewards and punishments are being divvied out will surely change their perspective. I entrust getting Ehrenfest in order and controlling the noble population to you and Wilfried, the current and future aubs.”

This really was for the best. After all, once I was at my library or the temple—which had the added benefit of being so close to the lower city—I wouldn’t have the motivation to do much else.

Wilfried nodded and said, “Right. I’ll focus on settling the chaos in the castle and noble society as a whole and get them to recognize me as the next aub in the process.” He was accepting his new duty with a dazzling smile.

Do you not think anything about being told that everyone’s hard work in the Royal Academy was for nothing? That we’ve been asked to give up the rank we all worked so hard to secure?

We were both a part of the same conversation, so how was he giving such a hope-filled smile? It was too bizarre to understand, but whatever. I continued to unload all of my burdens.

“I went to the Royal Academy’s library and copied out the schematics for the stage and the magic circle used in the spring ritual. The two of you may use them for the sake of your faction.”

At this point, I was just getting rid of anything that might get me called back to the castle. But rather than turn his nose up at the extra work, Wilfried rejoiced and thanked me.

“You are both helping me ever so much,” I said. “Now I can focus on the temple and the lower city.” This was a win for us all—or so I thought. Sylvester shook his head at me with a troubled frown.

“No, we want you to take on Florencia’s duties while she’s dealing with her pregnancy.”

He was asking me to start unifying the female nobles while socializing in tea parties and propping up Wilfried as his fiancée. To be honest, I wasn’t crazy about doing any of that. Now that Ferdinand was gone, there was nobody I could consult about temple work, and I really wasn’t sure whether the temple could function with just my retainers. Plus, now that there was no need for me to work hard in the Royal Academy, I didn’t have the slightest bit of motivation to attend any annoying tea parties.

Hmm... Maybe I should make a few very deliberate mistakes to lower our rank.

“I understand why those tasks would normally fall to me—because I am engaged to Wilfried—but Charlotte is much better suited to socializing and administrative work. I would rather focus on my duties as the High Bishop, overseeing the orphanage, and directing the merchants.”

We really couldn’t afford to slack when it came to preparing to host more merchants from other duchies. If we revealed to them that our internals were such a mess right now, our interduchy relations would surely suffer.

Sylvester thought for a moment, then nodded and said, “You’re right.”

Even now, I’ll still work hard for everyone in the lower city.

As I worked on pulling my scattered feelings back together, focusing in particular on my promise with Dad, Wilfried started pouting at Sylvester. “Father, don’t be so lenient with Rozemyne,” he said. “She needs to hurry up and get more socializing experience for next year at the Royal Academy.”

I decided not to say what was really on my mind—“Why the heck should I bother when I don’t need to give two hoots about our ranking?”—and instead gave him a ladylike tilt of my head. “But who will take care of all the temple work and business with the Merchant’s Guild if not I? Surely I’m not expected to do everything.”

I had only recently been put in charge of the temple work, and our scholars weren’t yet capable of understanding the lower-city merchants’ intentions. We were so lacking in competent manpower that I wanted to weep openly about having lost Justus. I was the only one who could do this work.

“I can understand you being needed in the temple, but why can’t you leave the Merchant’s Guild to the scholars?” Wilfried asked. “They dealt with them before, didn’t they? Getting more socializing experience is far more important, especially with next year in mind.”

It was only because I was actively balancing the needs of the nobles with the realities of the merchants that we were getting by at all. How, then, had he convinced himself that we could entrust things to the old scholars? It was clear as day that they would ignore the commoners’ circumstances, make unreasonable demands, and ultimately cause everything to blow up in their faces.

“I wonder, which scholars are you referring to?” I replied. “Surely not the ones who are incapable of adjusting to our new rank and who continue to work with the mindset of a bottom-ranking duchy. Not even Hartmut, who is very skilled at speaking with lower-city commoners, has the knowledge and experience necessary for business discussions. He would struggle to negotiate without me there. So, if we have raised scholars whom we can entrust with such matters, this is my first time hearing of them. I would even welcome such unique talent as my retainers.”

“W-Well, I mean...” Wilfried stuttered, his eyes wandering around the room. Evidently, there were no such scholars.

As I glared at Wilfried, Charlotte heaved an exasperated sigh. “Wilfried, I understand your wish for Rozemyne to secure more experience, but she makes an excellent point. I can take her place and socialize with other noblewomen, but no one else is equipped to manage the temple and cooperate with merchants. I will serve as Mother’s representative in her stead.”

Oh, Charlotte! You’re so smart and considerate! To think I was going to hole up in my library and the temple...

She was dazzling and so very reliable. It made me feel a little guilty for not wanting to work hard anymore.

“Charlotte,” Florencia said, “getting Rozemyne to socialize more is our highest priority. Even the reports we received made it clear that interacting with other nobles is her greatest weakness at the moment.” I could tell that I’d caused her plenty of headaches and immediately averted my eyes, feeling awkward.

In contrast to my own reaction, Charlotte began to grimace. She looked from me to Wilfried to Sylvester to Florencia, then gazed down and said, “Now that Uncle is gone, there is so much more to be done. Temple work; managing the orphanage, which has grown in size due to the purge; negotiating with the merchants; transporting the Gutenbergs; serving as an advisor for the printing industry... There is so much that only Rozemyne can do, and she already has more to balance than most adults, let alone other students. You snubbed her hard work at the Royal Academy, and now you want her to obtain more socializing experience? How will she find the time when you won’t even give her any extra manpower? And on top of all that, you expect her to take Mother’s place? Every single one of you is in the wrong.”

She finally looked up again, her indigo eyes now scathingly critical. “I do not believe for a moment that learning to socialize is Rozemyne’s highest priority. Mother, Father—you are both healthy and young enough to be having a new child. We have at least a decade before Rozemyne will need to start serving as the first wife and fulfilling all of the relevant duties.”

Charlotte...

I was touched that she would get so angry for my sake. My world seemed to get just a little bit brighter, and I took a moment to relish my newly restored optimism.

Right. I’ll continue working hard for just a little bit longer.

But while I was reveling in delight, everyone else was staring at Charlotte in shock. She was being openly critical of not just Wilfried but the archducal couple as well. Still, that did nothing to slow her; with a quiet countenance, she continued expressing her opinions.

“Father, it was clear to you that the purge would put Ehrenfest in very dire straits, yet you continued to refuse a second wife and even impregnated Mother on top of that. If anyone should need to take Mother’s place, it should be us, her blood relatives. I see no reason why Rozemyne should need to pick up the pieces.”

In truth, I did think it was a shame that Sylvester, who had married the woman he loved, was now being asked to take a second wife entirely for political reasons. For his sake, I even hoped it would never come to that. I also had no qualms about him having another baby. The extent of my reaction to that news was “That’s nice.”

Charlotte didn’t share my opinions, however. She was born and raised as a purebred member of the archducal family, so she had an entirely different perspective when it came to second wives. She felt anger and scorn toward our archduke, who had chosen to impregnate his first wife yet again when he was still refusing to take a second.

“Also,” she continued, “how are we going to fulfill our agreement with Groschel when Mother is pregnant? One of my retainers is from Groschel, and, as I understand it, we are due to perform an entwickeln there this spring.”

Entwickelns were large-scale spells with the power to reform an entire city. Casting one required so much mana that the entire archducal family would need to chug rejuvenation potions—and, while the lower city in Groschel was smaller than the one in Ehrenfest, it was still sure to be a costly endeavor. We had already been one man down now that Ferdinand was in Ahrensbach, but Florencia needing to provide mana for her baby would make the original schedule that much harder to stick to.

Sylvester paused. “Spring might not be feasible anymore, but we could manage in time for autumn.”

“For something on the scale of an entwickeln, no mistakes can be permitted. The nobles in Groschel are already on a knife-edge; do you truly expect them to be able to prepare for next summer’s merchants after such a sudden change of plans?” Charlotte asked. Judging by the confidence with which she spoke, she had already discussed the matter with her Groschel retainer.

She continued, still glaring at Sylvester, “I do not wish to see my retainer suffer. Rozemyne, you also have a Groschel noble in your service, do you not? You are also more knowledgeable about merchants and lower cities than anyone else here. Will changing the date of the entwickeln truly be acceptable?”

I started racking my brain, desperate to meet my little sister’s expectations. Brunhilde had already told me how things were going in Groschel. I’d even been there before.

They wouldn’t be entirely incapable of preparing...

Groschel had sent its craftspeople to train in Ehrenfest when it was adopting the printing and paper-making industries. It already had connections with the Gutenbergs and, by communicating with the Printing Guild, could prepare shops for books and paper at a moment’s notice. Plus, presumably at Brunhilde’s direction, it had been working with the Gilberta Company to create more stores that dealt primarily in hair ornaments. The problems were that it fundamentally lacked enough inns to support merchants from other duchies, and its lower city was outright filthy. Even after an entwickeln, it was unknown whether the people there would manage to keep things clean.

“They have made all the preparations necessary to open their stores,” I said. “The main questions are whether they will be able to establish their inns and keep the city clean. Bear in mind that they will need to sort out furniture and other interior decorations, secure and train personnel... Giving them half a year less to get everything ready would disturb things enormously.”

Entwickeln could only be used to make plain, white buildings, meaning they wouldn’t have furniture, window frames, or even doors at first. That was why the current schedule was for the spell to be cast in spring, the exteriors to be sorted out during summer and autumn, and the furniture to be made over the winter. Postponing the entwickeln to autumn would create all sorts of chaos, and it seemed unreasonable to expect the craftspeople to work outside in all the snow. Under those circumstances, would it even be possible for Groschel to furnish all of the buildings and supply them with trained personnel in time for the following summer? Not likely.

“You believe so too?” Charlotte asked. “Back when my room in the northern building was being prepared, it took us two years to choose the specialist craftspeople we needed and arrange the necessary carpets, curtains, furniture, and so on. It is hard to imagine that performing the entwickeln in autumn will give Groschel enough time to prepare for the merchants coming the following summer.”

Of course, furniture and rooms for commoner merchants wouldn’t take anywhere near as long to prepare as furniture and rooms for a member of the archducal family. After my experience with both the monastery and the Italian restaurant, however, I understood that carpentry workshops still needed plenty of time to finish such jobs.

As I was thinking of ways we could save more time, Wilfried peered from Charlotte, who was getting into her stride, to Florencia, who was looking quite unwell. “We still need to change our plans, Charlotte,” he snapped. “The entwickeln requires too much mana for Mother to participate. Do you want to put her in danger?”

“That isn’t my intention at all,” she retorted. “I simply fear that Groschel will criticize the archducal family for changing the plan to meet our own needs. Should we not try to avoid provoking them when the duchy is already so unstable from the purge?”

She was right; forcing unreasonable demands on Groschel now, of all times, would inevitably provoke the Leisegang faction. Sylvester’s go-to method of pushing his work onto those below him would only lead us into a classic pitfall.

“Father—if you wish to avoid backlash from Groschel and the Leisegang faction, you must promise not to make any new business deals during the coming Archduke Conference,” Charlotte concluded.

Sylvester and his retainers grimaced; they were sure to be questioned about this year’s business slots and which duchies they would go to. Ehrenfest’s abrupt rise through the rankings meant we wanted to stay in everyone’s good graces, so it was going to be rough having to turn down so many interested parties.

“Charlotte,” Wilfried said, “we need to prioritize interduchy relations over appeasing the Leisegangs. The royal family told us to rethink how we deal with other duchies.”

He made a good point. The Leisegangs were Ehrenfest nobles, meaning it was possible to squash their protests using Sylvester’s authority as the archduke, but that solution wouldn’t work on other duchies. It made sense that Wilfried was more conscious of this fact than Charlotte was, since Anastasius had directly warned him about it.

It certainly is scary to think of making enemies out of other duchies as well as the Leisegangs.

In its current state, Ehrenfest needed to satisfy other duchies as well as its own nobles. If this was a negative consequence of our new rank, then perhaps I needed to take responsibility for it.

“I know that keeping our own nobles in order is important,” I said, “but interduchy relations are important too, right?”

“Yes,” Sylvester answered.

“In that case, I think we should focus on making Groschel usable by next summer—though this will require you, the archduke, to take the lead. You cannot simply leave the matter to Giebe Groschel.”

Trying to pass the buck would be disastrous; if everything ended up falling apart, then Groschel would receive all of the blame. Having the archduke be accountable instead was sure to smooth things over.

“What are you saying?!” Sylvester exclaimed, wide-eyed.

“You would have the archduke take responsibility for Groschel...?” Florencia asked, looking equally as surprised.

“I would. We’re borrowing its lower city because our own isn’t large enough to host all the merchants. If the archduke is willing to take responsibility for the preparations, then Charlotte’s fears should be taken care of, no?”

To be more specific, Charlotte was worried that Groschel wouldn’t be able to follow the new, unreasonable schedule and would end up being blamed for the failure, which would cause backlash and further destabilize Ehrenfest.

Charlotte nodded and said that she was also worried about my workload getting too excessive, which was very cute. She then carefully eyed Sylvester, awaiting his response.

“Rozemyne...” Sylvester muttered, wilting beneath the stern, silent look from his daughter.

“If you are going to vastly modify the schedule based on personal circumstances, then you should also be ready to provide your full support. The preparations won’t be completed in time if you leave this to Groschel—but if you provide most of the mana and funding while offering to accept the blame for any failures, we might just be able to manage.”

“Oho? And how is that?” Sylvester asked, clapping a hand on his cheek before leaning forward, intrigued. Now that I had his attention, I decided to launch into my explanation.

“Scholars need to make precise schematics for the entwickeln, correct? In particular, we’ll need diagrams for the inns. If we can get those and work out the precise measurements, we can order the doors, window frames, and other such things well in advance—from separate carpentry workshops.”

We had an enormous order on our hands, and exclusivity culture would only slow things down. Though I understood that it was important for the lower-city craftsmen to have regular customers and a steady supply of work, it really got in the way at times like this.

I continued, “Half a year should be enough time for a workshop to complete the interior decorations for a single room, and if we ask for the doors and window frames to be prioritized, we can have those put in place immediately after the entwickeln. The craftsmen will work even harder if we make them compete with one another and reward those who do the best.”

Getting the doors and window frames made first was key. If we waited until after winter, snow would sweep into all of the newly built houses and create a huge mess, which would only delay things further.

“That said,” I went on, “the workshops in Groschel won’t have enough builders and carpenters to complete everything in time. We’ll also need to send orders to the provinces surrounding it and to our own lower city. That is one of many reasons why I think the aub should take charge.”

Giebe Groschel asking another giebe could turn into a disaster depending on what they wanted in return, but an archducal order would smooth all that over.

“Hmm...” There was a glint in Sylvester’s dark-green eyes, which brought an immediate smile to my face. His expression was that of someone who had just found the path to victory.

“The problem from there is going to be the furniture,” I said. “Just as Charlotte fears, Groschel would need to rely on carpentry workshops, and there simply wouldn’t be enough time for them to prepare furniture for every room. We cannot afford to settle for half measures either; the visiting merchants are going to be some of the wealthiest in all of the top-ranking duchies, and their tastes are bound to be just as rich. But with the aub himself at the helm, that won’t be an issue.”

“How so?”

“You’re responsible for the estates of nobles crushed during the purge, are you not? Simply confiscate their furniture. We’ll already be using a different workshop for each inn, so having a variety of styles shouldn’t be an issue. And think about how much money it will save us.”

It would also save us all the tedious bureaucracy of needing to budget for, acquire, and pass down the furniture.

“Furthermore,” I said, “unlike instruments or magic tools, the furniture taken from the nobles’ estates won’t be needed by the children who avoided punishment.” They were going to be living in the orphanage, the castle playroom, or somewhere in the dormitories—all places that were already furnished.

I continued, “We’ll also need to account for the time it will take to train personnel. If we move the potential inn workers from Groschel to our lower city as soon as possible, they can start getting some hands-on experience.”

Coordinating the move wouldn’t be easy, but it would give those from Groschel an entire half year of experience doing business with merchants from other duchies. Meanwhile, our lower city would receive extra manpower during such a busy period. It seemed like a beneficial arrangement for both parties.

“It is my duty to make such arrangements with the merchants, so you may leave this to me,” I concluded. “Assuming that you’ll take responsibility as the aub, that is.”

After a short pause, Sylvester said, “Alright. I’ll do it.”

Florencia looked from her husband to me, concerned, while Wilfried stared down at the floor with pursed lips. Charlotte muttered that, in the end, I’d still ended up having more work thrust upon me.

I cackled a little. “Thank you for worrying about me, Charlotte, but I’ve been told to stay in the shadows. As such, while these are my suggestions, the aub will be the one actually carrying them out.”

Charlotte’s eyes widened a little, then she smiled and let out an amused giggle.

Now I can hide away in the temple and get more opportunities to see everyone in the lower city. All according to plan!

It was then that Melchior, who had been listening in silence, suddenly shot his hand up. “Sister, is there anything I can do? I want to be useful to Ehrenfest too.”

“Well... Could you assist me then, Melchior?”

“Of course,” he replied, smiling brightly. “What do you need me to do?”

To be honest, there wasn’t really anything Melchior could do. He couldn’t provide mana because he hadn’t been taught how to control it, and it didn’t seem feasible to bring him to religious ceremonies. Still, it was best to encourage his motivation; even if he himself wouldn’t be of much use, the retainers with him at all times were another story.

These are people who can take over—I mean, uh, who can assist me with my temple work!

“You can study the details of temple work,” I said. “You will need to be ready to serve as the High Bishop by the time I come of age, will you not?”

The purge meant we had even fewer blue priests than before, so preparing my successor was more important than ever. Otherwise, the temple would outright collapse when I came of age and departed with all of my retainers.

Sorting out my successor should also give me more time to spend in my library...

“I will take over training Melchior and his retainers,” I declared.

Sylvester grimaced at the very idea and muttered, “That’s one way to make me worry about his future...” His reluctance was irrelevant, though. Somebody needed to train my successor, and nobody was better suited to the position than I—especially when we were already so shorthanded.

“Lady Rozemyne, would you really send our lord to the temple straight after his baptism?” asked one of the people in Melchior’s service. They didn’t let it show on their faces, but he and some of his fellow retainers—particularly the older ones—seemed less than pleased with the idea.

“I was made High Bishop immediately after my baptism,” I replied, unwilling to let such valuable manpower slip through my fingers. “In my case, I was raised in the temple. I could rely on Lord Ferdinand to help me with my work and train my retainers. But who will provide this support to Melchior? My retainers are unlikely to stay in the temple after I come of age.”

I shot Hartmut a glance. He smiled in response, requested permission to speak with Melchior and his retainers, and then said, “Indeed, we should start his training as soon as possible. Lady Rozemyne is the only person whom I will serve, and my intention is to leave the temple as soon as she does. Only three years remain before Lord Melchior is due to become the High Bishop. Are you all prepared to support him then?”

Melchior recoiled and stared up at his retainers. “Three years...” he muttered, then turned to Sylvester and said, “Father, I want to help my sister in the temple. There’s nothing I can do here in the castle, but I’m an archduke candidate too; I want to be of some assistance.”

“Alright,” Sylvester eventually said, caving. “Melchior, I hereby order you and your retainers to help in the temple.”

Melchior’s older retainers grimaced, but the knights seemed quite interested. My mana compression method aside, they had probably heard the students back from the Royal Academy talking about getting divine protections through prayer.

“Let’s work hard together, Melchior.”

“Right!”

From there, our meeting came to a close. Melchior was the only one to stand up with a bright smile; everyone else appeared to be swallowing some very bitter remarks. Sylvester, Florencia, and their retainers looked particularly unwell, likely because of the mountain of work that awaited them, while Wilfried and Charlotte seemed to be brooding over something.

Bonifatius strode to the door, ignoring the heavy atmosphere entirely. He then stopped, waved to me, and said, “Rozemyne, what you need is some archducal work in the castle. If you want to leave the temple, just ask me for help.”

A stir ran through the room. Sylvester, Florencia, and Wilfried all tensed up. Our meeting was supposed to be over, but now we were getting drawn back into it.

In truth, my mind was already elsewhere; I only had three years before my coming of age, so I was thinking about how to train scholars to do business with merchants and how to plan for Fran’s and my other attendants’ futures. As a result, I responded without even trying to sugarcoat my feelings.

“If you wish to help me, Grandfather, then make it so that I can remain in the temple forever, even after coming of age.”

Sylvester and the others loosened up at once, while Bonifatius went rigid with shock. I cocked my head at him, unsure why he was so surprised, but he simply took his leave with a somewhat saddened expression.